The present invention relates to methods for treating neuropsychiatric disorders. In particular, the present invention relates to methods for treating neuropsychiatric disorders by intracranial administration of a neurotoxin.
Neuropsychiatric Disorders
A neuropsychiatric disorder is a neurological disturbance that is typically labeled according to which of the four mental faculties are affected. For example, one group includes disorders of thinking and cognition, such as schizophrenia and delirium; a second group includes disorders of mood, such as affective disorders and anxiety; a third group includes disorders of social behavior, such as character defects and personality disorders; and a fourth group includes disorders of learning, memory, and intelligence, such as mental retardation and dementia.
Accordingly, neuropsychiatric disorders encompass schizophrenia, delirium, Alzheimer's disease, depression, mania, attention deficit disorders, drug addiction, dementia, agitation, apathy, anxiety, psychoses, post-traumatic stress disorders, irritability, and disinhibition.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a disorder that affects about one percent of the world population. Three general symptoms of schizophrenia are often referred to as positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and disorganized symptoms. Positive symptoms may include delusions (abnormal beliefs), hallucinations (abnormal perceptions), and disorganized thinking. Hallucinations may be auditory, visual, olfactory, or tactile.
Disorganized thinking may manifest itself in schizophrenic patients by disjointed speech and the inability to maintain logical thought processes. Negative symptoms may represent the absence of normal behavior. Negative symptoms include emotional flatness or lack of expression and may be characterized by social withdrawal, reduced energy, reduced motivation, and reduced activity. Catatonia may also be associated with negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The symptoms of schizophrenia should continuously persist for a duration of about six months in order for the patient to be diagnosed as schizophrenic. Based on the types of symptoms a patient reveals, schizophrenia may be categorized into subtypes including catatonic schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia, and disorganized schizophrenia.
The brains of schizophrenic patients are often characterized by enlarged lateral ventricles, which may be associated with a reduction of the hippocampus and an enhancement in the size of the basal ganglia. Schizophrenic patients may also have enlarged third ventricles and widening of sulci. These anatomical characterizations point to a reduction in cortical tissue.
Although the cause of schizophrenia is not precisely known, there are several hypotheses regarding the causes. One hypothesis is that schizophrenia is associated with increased dopamine activity within the cortical and limbic areas of the brain. This hypothesis is supported by the therapeutic effects achieved by antipsychotic drugs that block certain dopamine receptors. In addition, amphetamine use may be associated with schizophrenia-like psychotic symptoms; amphetamines act on dopamine receptors.
Examples of antipsychotic drugs that may be used to treat schizophrenic patients include phenothizines, such as chlorpromazine and trifluopromazine; thioxanthenes, such as chlorprothixene; fluphenazine; butyropenones, such as haloperidol; loxapine; mesoridazine; molindone; quetiapine; thiothixene; trifluoperazine; perphenazine; thioridazine; risperidone; dibenzodiazepines, such as clozapine; and olanzapine. Although these agents may relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia, their administration may also result in undesirable side effects including Parkinson's disease-like symptoms (tremor, muscle rigidity, loss of facial expression); dystonia; restlessness; tardive dyskinesia; weight gain; skin problems; dry mouth; constipation; blurred vision; drowsiness; slurred speech; agranulocytosis.
Antipsychotic drugs are believed to primarily act on dopamine receptors with a particular affinity for the D2, D3, and D4 receptors. It is believed that the D3 and D4 receptors may have a higher affinity for certain antipsychotics, such as clozapine, as compared to the others. Brains of schizophrenic patients appear to have increased numbers of D2 receptors in the caudate nucleus, the nucleus accumbens (ventral striatum), and the olfactory tubercule.
Dopamine neurons may be organized into four major subsystems: the tuberoinfundibular system; the nigrostriatal system; the mesolimbic system; and the mesocortical system. The tuberoinfundibular dopaminergic system originates in cell bodies of the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and projects to the pituitary stalk. This system may be involved in secondary neuroendocrine abnormalities in schizophrenia. The nigrostriatal dopaminergic system originates in the substantia nigra and projects primarily to the putamen and the caudate nucleus. The mesolimbic dopaminergic system originates in the ventral tegmental area and projects to the mesial component of the limbic system, which includes the nucleus accumbens, the nuclei of the stria terminalis, parts of the amygdala and hippocampus, the lateral septal nuclei, and the mesial frontal, anterior cingulate, and entorhinal cortex. The nucleus accumbens is a convergence site from the amygdala, hippocampus, entorhinal area, anterior cingulate area, and parts of the temporal lobe. Thus, the mesolimbic dopaminergic projection may modulate and transform information conveyed from the nucleus accumbens to the septum, hypothalamus, anterior cingulate area, and frontal lobes, and overactive modulation of the nucleus accumbens output to these areas may contribute to positive symptoms associated with schizophrenia. The mesocortical dopaminergic system originates in the ventral tegmental area and projects to the neocortex and heavily to the prefrontal cortex. This component may be important in the negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
The ventral tegmental area, which is the source of origination of the dopaminergic input to the nucleus accumbens, receives a cholinergic input from the pedunculopontine nuclei of the brainstem. The pedunculopontine nucleus provides an excitatory cholinergic input to the ventral tegmental area (Clarke et al., Innervation of substantia nigra neurons by cholinergic afferents from the pedunculopontine nucleus in the rat. Neuroanatomical and electrophysiological evidence, Neuroscience, 23:1011–1019,1987). It has been reported that schizophrenic patients have an increased number of cholinergic neurons in the pedunculopontine nuclei (Garcia-Rill et al., Mesopontine neurons in schizophrenia, Neuroscience, 66(2):321–335, 1995). However, these results were not confirmed in one study (German et al., Mesopontine cholinergic and non-cholinergic neurons in schizophrenia, Neuroscience, 94(1):33–38, 1999).
Mania
Mania is a sustained form of euphoria that affects millions of people in the United States who suffer from depression. Manic episodes may be characterized by an elevated, expansive, or irritable mood lasting several days, and is often accompanied by other symptoms, such as, overactivity, overtalkativeness, social intrusiveness, increased energy, pressure of ideas, grandiosity, distractibility, decreased need for sleep, and recklessness. Manic patients may also experience delusions and hallucinations.
Depressive disorders may involve serotonergic and noradrenergic neuronal systems based on current therapeutic regimes that target serotonin and noradrenalin receptors. Serotonergic pathways originate from the raphe nuclei of the brain stem, and noradrenergic pathways originate from the locus ceruleus. Decreasing the electrical activity of neurons in the locus ceruleus may be associated with the effects mediated by depression medications.
Mania likely results from an imbalance in the chemical messengers within the brain. It has been proposed that mania may be attributed to a decline in acetylcholine. A decline in acetylcholine may result in a relatively greater level of norepinephrine. Administering phosphotidyl choline has been reported to alleviate the symptoms of mania.
Anxiety
Anxiety disorders may affect between approximately ten to thirty percent of the population, and may be characterized by frequent occurrence of symptoms of fear including arousal, restlessness, heightened responsiveness, sweating, racing heart, increased blood pressure, dry mouth, a desire to run or escape, and avoidance behavior. Generalized anxiety persists for several months, and is associated with motor tension (trembling, twitching, muscle aches, restlessness); autonomic hyperactivity (shortness of breath, palpitations, increased heart rate, sweating, cold hands), and vigilance and scanning (feeling on edge, exaggerated startle response, difficult in concentrating).
Benzodiazepines, which enhance the inhibitory effects of the gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptor, are frequently used to treat anxiety. Buspirone is another effective anxiety treatment.
Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease is a degenerative brain disorder characterized by cognitive and noncognitive neuropsychiatric symptoms, which accounts for approximately 60% of all cases of dementia for patients over 65 years old. Psychiatric symptoms are common in Alzheimer's disease, with psychosis (hallucinations and delusions) present in approximately fifty percent of affected patients. Similar to schizophrenia, positive psychotic symptoms are common in Alzheimer's disease. Delusions typically occur more frequently than hallucinations. Alzheimer's patients may also exhibit negative symptoms, such as disengagement, apathy, diminished emotional responsiveness, loss of volition, and decreased initiative.
Alzheimer's disease patients may also exhibit enlargement of both lateral and third ventricles as well as atrophy of temporal structures.
It is possible that the psychotic symptoms of Alzheimer's disease may involve a shift in the concentration of dopamine or acetylcholine, which may augment a dopaminergic/cholinergic balance, thereby resulting in psychotic behavior. For example, it has been proposed that an increased dopamine release may be responsible for the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. This may result in a positive disruption of the dopaminergic/cholinergic balance. In Alzheimer's disease, the reduction in cholinergic neurons effectively reduces acetylcholine release resulting in a negative disruption of the dopaminergic/cholinergic balance. Indeed, antipsychotic agents that are used to relieve psychosis of schizophrenia are also useful in alleviating psychosis in Alzheimer's patients.
Several of the symptoms associated with the neuropsychiatric disorders appear to be, at least in part, attributed to hyperexcitability of neurons within the brain. This interpretation is supported by the pharmacology associated with current therapeutic treatments. For example, many of the antipsychotic treatments are directed to interfering with binding of dopamine to dopamine receptors, as discussed above. Similarly, mania and anxiety are often treated with benzodiazepines, which enhance the inhibitory effects of GABA-mediated inhibition. U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,403 discloses intracranial administration of a botulinum toxin to treat various movement disorders. Additionally, it is known that stereotactic procedures can be used to administer a pharmaceutical to a discrete brain area to successfully alleviate a parkinsonian tremor. See e.g. Pahapill P.A., et al., Tremor arrest with thalamic microinjections of muscimol in patients with essential tremor, Ann Neur 46(2); 249–252 (1999).
However, current therapeutic treatments result in several adverse side-effects. These side-effects may be attributed to the fact that the pharmaceutical agents are typically administered systemically, and therefore, the agents have a relatively non-specific action with respect to the various biological systems of the patient. For example, administration of benzodiazepines may result in sedation and muscle relaxation. In addition, tolerance may develop to these drugs, as well as withdrawal seizures may develop. Current therapeutic strategies also require consistent and repeated administration of the agents to achieve the desired effects.
Botulinum Toxin
The genus Clostridium has more than one hundred and twenty seven species, grouped according to their morphology and functions. The anaerobic, gram positive bacterium Clostridium botulinum produces a potent polypeptide neurotoxin, botulinum toxin, which causes a neuroparalytic illness in humans and animals referred to as botulism. The spores of Clostridium botulinum are found in soil and can grow in improperly sterilized and sealed food containers of home based canneries, which are the cause of many of the cases of botulism. The effects of botulism typically appear 18 to 36 hours after eating the foodstuffs infected with a Clostridium botulinum culture or spores. The botulinum toxin can apparently pass unattenuated through the lining of the gut and attack peripheral motor neurons. Symptoms of botulinum toxin intoxication can progress from difficulty walking, swallowing, and speaking to paralysis of the respiratory muscles and death.
Botulinum toxin type A is the most lethal natural biological agent known to man. About 50 picograms of a commercially available botulinum toxin type A (purified neurotoxin complex)1 is a LD50 in mice (i.e. 1 unit). One unit of BOTOX® contains about 50 picograms (about 56 attomoles) of botulinum toxin type A complex. Interestingly, on a molar basis, botulinum toxin type A is about 1.8 billion times more lethal than diphtheria, about 600 million times more lethal than sodium cyanide, about 30 million times more lethal than cobra toxin and about 12 million times more lethal than cholera. Singh, Critical Aspects of Bacterial Protein Toxins, pages 63–84 (chapter 4) of Natural Toxins II, edited by B. R. Singh et al., Plenum Press, New York (1976) (where the stated LD50 of botulinum toxin type A of 0.3 ng equals 1 U is corrected for the fact that about 0.05 ng of BOTOX® equals 1 unit). One unit (U) of botulinum toxin is defined as the LD50 upon intraperitoneal injection into female Swiss Webster mice weighing 18 to 20 grams each. 1 Available from Allergan, Inc., of Irvine, Calif. under the tradename BOTOX® in 100 unit vials)
Seven immunologically distinct botulinum neurotoxins have been characterized, these being respectively botulinum neurotoxin serotypes A, B, C1, D, E, F and G each of which is distinguished by neutralization with type-specific antibodies. The different serotypes of botulinum toxin vary in the animal species that they affect and in the severity and duration of the paralysis they evoke. For example, it has been determined that botulinum toxin type A is 500 times more potent, as measured by the rate of paralysis produced in the rat, than is botulinum toxin type B. Additionally, botulinum toxin type B has been determined to be non-toxic in primates at a dose of 480 U/kg which is about 12 times the primate LD50 for botulinum toxin type A. Moyer E et al., Botulinum Toxin Type B: Experimental and Clinical Experience, being chapter 6, pages 71–85 of “Therapy With Botulinum Toxin”, edited by Jankovic, J. et al. (1994), Marcel Dekker, Inc. Botulinumtoxin apparently binds with high affinity to cholinergic motor neurons, is translocated into the neuron and blocks the release of acetylcholine.
Regardless of serotype, the molecular mechanism of toxin intoxication appears to be similar and to involve at least three steps or stages. In the first step of the process, the toxin binds to the presynaptic membrane of the target neuron through a specific interaction between the heavy chain, H chain, and a cell surface receptor; the receptor is thought to be different for each type of botulinum toxin and for tetanus toxin. The carboxyl end segment of the H chain, HC, appears to be important for targeting of the toxin to the cell surface.
In the second step, the toxin crosses the plasma membrane of the poisoned cell. The toxin is first engulfed by the cell through receptor-mediated endocytosis, and an endosome containing the toxin is formed. The toxin then escapes the endosome into the cytoplasm of the cell. This step is thought to be mediated by the amino end segment of the H chain, HN, which triggers a conformational change of the toxin in response to a pH of about 5.5 or lower. Endosomes are known to possess a proton pump which decreases intra-endosomal pH. The conformational shift exposes hydrophobic residues in the toxin, which permits the toxin to embed itself in the endosomal membrane. The toxin (or at a minimum the light chain) then translocates through the endosomal membrane into the cytoplasm.
The last step of the mechanism of botulinum toxin activity appears to involve reduction of the disulfide bond joining the heavy chain, H chain, and the light chain, L chain. The entire toxic activity of botulinum and tetanus toxins is contained in the L chain of the holotoxin; the L chain is a zinc (Zn++) endopeptidase which selectively cleaves proteins essential for recognition and docking of neurotransmitter-containing vesicles with the cytoplasmic surface of the plasma membrane, and fusion of the vesicles with the plasma membrane. Tetanus neurotoxin, botulinum toxin types B, D, F, and G cause degradation of synaptobrevin (also called vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP)), a synaptosomal membrane protein. Most of the VAMP present at the cytoplasmic surface of the synaptic vesicle is removed as a result of any one of these cleavage events. Botulinum toxin serotype A and E cleave SNAP-25. Botulinum toxin serotype C1 was originally thought to cleave syntaxin, but was found to cleave syntaxin and SNAP-25. Each of the botulinum toxins specifically cleaves a different bond, except botulinum toxin type B (and tetanus toxin) which cleave the same bond.
Botulinum toxins have been used in clinical settings for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders characterized by hyperactive skeletal muscles. A botulinum toxin type A complex has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of blepharospasm, strabismus and hemifacial spasm. Non-type A botulinum toxin serotypes apparently have a lower potency and/or a shorter duration of activity as compared to botulinum toxin type A. Clinical effects of peripheral intramuscular botulinum toxin type A are usually seen within one week of injection. The typical duration of symptomatic relief from a single intramuscular injection of botulinum toxin type A averages about three months.
Although all the botulinum toxins serotypes apparently inhibit release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, they do so by affecting different neurosecretory proteins and/or cleaving these proteins at different sites. For example, botulinum types A and E both cleave the 25 kiloDalton (kD) synaptosomal associated protein (SNAP-25), but they target different amino acid sequences within this protein. Botulinum toxin types B, D, F and G act on vesicle-associated protein (VAMP, also called synaptobrevin), with each serotype cleaving the protein at a different site. Finally, botulinum toxin type C1 has been shown to cleave both syntaxin and SNAP-25. These differences in mechanism of action may affect the relative potency and/or duration of action of the various botulinum toxin serotypes. Apparently, a substrate for a botulinum toxin can be found in a variety of different cell types. See e.g. Biochem, J 1;339 (pt 1):159–65:1999, and Mov Disord, 10(3):376:1995 (pancreatic islet B cells contains at least SNAP-25 and synaptobrevin).
The molecular weight of the botulinum toxin protein molecule, for all seven of the known botulinum toxin serotypes, is about 150 kD. Interestingly, the botulinum toxins are released by Clostridial bacterium as complexes comprising the 150 kD botulinum toxin protein molecule along with associated non-toxin proteins. Thus, the botulinum toxin type A complex can be produced by Clostridial bacterium as 900 kD, 500 kD and 300 kD forms. Botulinum toxin types B and C1 is apparently produced as only a 700 kD or 500 kD complex. Botulinum toxin type D is produced as both 300 kD and 500 kD complexes. Finally, botulinum toxin types E and F are produced as only approximately 300 kD complexes. The complexes (i.e. molecular weight greater than about 150 kD) are believed to contain a non-toxin hemaglutinin protein and a non-toxin and non-toxic nonhemaglutinin protein. These two non-toxin proteins (which along with the botulinum toxin molecule comprise the relevant neurotoxin complex) may act to provide stability against denaturation to the botulinum toxin molecule and protection against digestive acids when toxin is ingested. Additionally, it is possible that the larger (greater than about 150 kD molecular weight) botulinum toxin complexes may result in a slower rate of diffusion of the botulinum toxin away from a site of intramuscular injection of a botulinum toxin complex.
In vitro studies have indicated that botulinum toxin inhibits potassium cation induced release of both acetylcholine and norepinephrine from primary cell cultures of brainstem tissue. Additionally, it has been reported that botulinum toxin inhibits the evoked release of both glycine and glutamate in primary cultures of spinal cord neurons and that in brain synaptosome preparations botulinum toxin inhibits the release of each of the neurotransmitters acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine (Habermann E., et al., Tetanus Toxin and Botulinum A and C Neurotoxins Inhibit Noradrenaline Release From Cultured Mouse Brain, J Neurochem 51(2);522–527:1988) CGRP, substance P and glutamate (Sanchez-Prieto, J., et al., Botulinum Toxin A Blocks Glutamate Exocytosis From Guinea Pig Cerebral Cortical Synaptosomes, Eur J. Biochem 165;675–681:1897. Thus, when adequate concentrations are used, stimulus-evoked release of most neurotransmitters is blocked by botulinum toxin. See e.g. Pearce, L. B., Pharmacologic Characterization of Botulinum Toxin For Basic Science and Medicine, Toxicon 35(9);1373–1412 at 1393; Bigalke H., et al., Botulinum A Neurotoxin Inhibits Non-Cholinergic Synaptic Transmission in Mouse Spinal Cord Neurons in Culture, Brain Research 360;318–324:1985; Habermann E., Inhibition by Tetanus and Botulinum A Toxin of the release of [3H]Noradrenaline and [3H]GABA From Rat Brain Homogenate, Experientia 44;224–226:1988, Bigalke H., et al., Tetanus Toxin and Botulinum A Toxin Inhibit Release and Uptake of Various Transmitters, as Studied with Particulate Preparations From Rat Brain and Spinal Cord, Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch Pharmacol 316;244–251:1981, and; Jankovic J. et al., Therapy With Botulinum Toxin, Marcel Dekker, Inc., (1994), page 5.
Botulinum toxin type A can be obtained by establishing and growing cultures of Clostridium botulinum in a fermenter and then harvesting and purifying the fermented mixture in accordance with known procedures. All the botulinum toxin serotypes are initially synthesized as inactive single chain proteins which must be cleaved or nicked by proteases to become neuroactive. The bacterial strains that make botulinum toxin serotypes A and G possess endogenous proteases and serotypes A and G can therefore be recovered from bacterial cultures in predominantly their active form. In contrast, botulinum toxin serotypes C1, D and E are synthesized by nonproteolytic strains and are therefore typically unactivated when recovered from culture. Serotypes B and F are produced by both proteolytic and nonproteolytic strains and therefore can be recovered in either the active or inactive form. However, even the proteolytic strains that produce, for example, the botulinum toxin type B serotype only cleave a portion of the toxin produced. The exact proportion of nicked to unnicked molecules depends on the length of incubation and the temperature of the culture. Therefore, a certain percentage of any preparation of, for example, the botulinum toxin type B toxin is likely to be inactive, possibly accounting for the known significantly lower potency of botulinum toxin type B as compared to botulinum toxin type A. The presence of inactive botulinumtoxin molecules in a clinical preparation will contribute to the overall protein load of the preparation, which has been linked to increased antigenicity, without contributing to its clinical efficacy. Additionally, it is known that botulinum toxin type B has, upon intramuscular injection, a shorter duration of activity and is also less potent than botulinum toxin type A at the same dose level.
High quality crystalline botulinum toxin type A can be produced from the Hall A strain of Clostridium botulinum with characteristics of >3×107 U/mg, an A260/A278 of less than 0.60 and a distinct pattern of banding on gel electrophoresis. The known Shantz process can be used to obtain crystalline botulinum toxin type A, as set forth in Shantz, E. J., et al, Properties and use of Botulinum toxin and Other Microbial Neurotoxins in Medicine, Microbiol Rev. 56;80–99:1992. Generally, the botulinum toxin type A complex can be isolated and purified from an anaerobic fermentation by cultivating Clostridium botulinum type A in a suitable medium. The known process can also be used, upon separation out of the non-toxin proteins, to obtain pure botulinum toxins, such as for example: purified botulinum toxin type A with an approximately 150 kD molecular weight with a specific potency of 1–2×108 LD50 U/mg or greater; purified botulinum toxin type B with an approximately 156 kD molecular weight with a specific potency of 1–2×108 LD50 U/mg or greater, and; purified botulinum toxin type F with an approximately 155 kD molecular weight with a specific potency of 1–2×107 LD50 U/mg or greater.
Botulinum toxins and/or botulinum toxin complexes can be obtained from List Biological Laboratories, Inc., Campbell, Calif.; the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Porton Down, U.K.; Wako (Osaka, Japan), Metabiologics (Madison, Wis.) as well as from Sigma Chemicals of St Louis, Mo.
Pure botulinum toxin is so labile that it is generally not used to prepare a pharmaceutical composition. Furthermore, the botulinum toxin complexes, such as the toxin type A complex are also extremely susceptible to denaturation due to surface denaturation, heat, and alkaline conditions. Inactivated toxin forms toxoid proteins which may be immunogenic. The resulting antibodies can render a patient refractory to toxin injection.
As with enzymes generally, the biological activities of the botulinum toxins (which are intracellular peptidases) is dependant, at least in part, upon their three dimensional conformation. Thus, botulinum toxin type A is detoxified by heat, various chemicals surface stretching and surface drying. Additionally, it is known that dilution of the toxin complex obtained by the known culturing, fermentation and purification to the much, much lower toxin concentrations used for pharmaceutical composition formulation results in rapid detoxification of the toxin unless a suitable stabilizing agent is present. Dilution of the toxin from milligram quantities to a solution containing nanograms per milliliter presents significant difficulties because of the rapid loss of specific toxicity upon such great dilution. Since the toxin may be used months or years after the toxin containing pharmaceutical composition is formulated, the toxin can stabilized with a stabilizing agent such as albumin and gelatin.
A commercially available botulinum toxin containing pharmaceutical composition is sold under the trademark BOTOX® (available from Allergan, Inc., of Irvine, Calif.). BOTOX® consists of a purified botulinum toxin type A complex, albumin and sodium chloride packaged in sterile, vacuum-dried form. The botulinum toxin type A is made from a culture of the Hall strain of Clostridium botulinum grown in a medium containing N-Z amine and yeast extract. The botulinum toxin type A complex is purified from the culture solution by a series of acid precipitations to a crystalline complex consisting of the active high molecular weight toxin protein and an associated hemagglutinin protein. The crystalline complex is re-dissolved in a solution containing saline and albumin and sterile filtered (0.2 microns) prior to vacuum-drying. The vacuum-dried product is stored in a freezer at or below −5° C. BOTOX® can be reconstituted with sterile, non-preserved saline prior to intramuscular injection. Each vial of BOTOX® contains about 100 units (U) of Clostridium botulinum toxin type A purified neurotoxin complex, 0.5 milligrams of human serum albumin and 0.9 milligrams of sodium chloride in a sterile, vacuum-dried form without a preservative.
To reconstitute vacuum-dried BOTOX®, sterile normal saline without a preservative; (0.9% Sodium Chloride Injection) is used by drawing up the proper amount of diluent in the appropriate size syringe. Since BOTOX® may be denatured by bubbling or similar violent agitation, the diluent is gently injected into the vial. For sterility reasons BOTOX® is preferably administered within four hours after the vial is removed from the freezer and reconstituted. During these four hours, reconstituted BOTOX® can be stored in a refrigerator at about 2° C. to about 8° C. Reconstituted, refrigerated BOTOX® has been reported to retain its potency for at least about two weeks. Neurology, 48:249–53:1997.
It has been reported that botulinum toxin type A has been used in clinical settings as follows:
(1) about 75–125 units of BOTOX® per intramuscular injection (multiple muscles) to treat cervical dystonia;
(2) 5–10 units of BOTOX® per intramuscular injection to treat glabellar lines (brow furrows) (5 units injected intramuscularly into the procerus muscle and 10 units injected intramuscularly into each corrugator supercilii muscle);
(3) about 30–80 units of BOTOX® to treat constipation by intrasphincter injection of the puborectalis muscle;
(4) about 1–5 units per muscle of intramuscularly injected BOTOX® to treat blepharospasm by injecting the lateral pre-tarsal orbicularis oculi muscle of the upper lid and the lateral pre-tarsal orbicularis oculi of the lower lid.
(5) to treat strabismus, extraocular muscles have been injected intramuscularly with between about 1–5 units of BOTOX®, the amount injected varying based upon both the size of the muscle to be injected and the extent of muscle paralysis desired (i.e. amount of diopter correction desired).
(6) to treat upper limb spasticity following stroke by intramuscular injections of BOTOX® into five different upper limb flexor muscles, as follows:
(a) flexor digitorum profundus: 7.5 U to 30 U
(b) flexor digitorum sublimus: 7.5 U to 30 U
(c) flexor carpi ulnaris: 10 U to 40 U
(d) flexor carpi radialis: 15 U to 60 U
(e) biceps brachii: 50 U to 200 U. Each of the five indicated muscles has been injected at the same treatment session, so that the patient receives from 90 U to 360 U of upper limb flexor muscle BOTOX® by intramuscular injection at each treatment session.
(7) to treat migraine, pericranial injected (injected symmetrically into glabellar, frontalis and temporalis muscles) injection of 25 U of BOTOX® has showed significant benefit as a prophylactic treatment of migraine compared to vehicle as measured by decreased measures of migraine frequency, maximal severity, associated vomiting and acute medication use over the three month period following the 25 U injection.
Additionally, intramuscular botulinum toxin has been used in the treatment of tremor in patients with Parkinson's disease, although it has been reported that results have not been impressive. Marjama-Jyons, J., et al., Tremor-Predominant Parkinson's Disease, Drugs & Aging 16(4);273–278:2000.
It is known that botulinum toxin type A can have an efficacy for up to 12 months (European J. Neurology 6 (Supp 4): S11114 S1150:1999), and in some circumstances for as long as 27 months. The Laryngoscope 109:1344–1346:1999. However, the usual duration of an intramuscular injection of Botox® is typically about 3 to 4 months.
The success of botulinum toxin type A to treat a variety of clinical conditions has led to interest in other botulinum toxin serotypes. Two commercially available botulinum type A preparations for use in humans are BOTOX® available from Allergan, Inc., of Irvine, Calif., and Dysport® available from Beaufour Ipsen, Porton Down, England. A Botulinum toxin type B preparation (MyoBloc®) is available from Elan Pharmaceuticals of San Francisco, Calif.
In addition to having pharmacologic actions at the peripheral location, botulinum toxins may also have inhibitory effects in the central nervous system. Work by Weigand et al, Nauny-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 1976; 292,161–165, and Habermann, Nauny-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 1974; 281, 47–56 showed that botulinum toxin is able to ascend to the spinal area by retrograde transport. As such, a botulinum toxin injected at a peripheral location, for example intramuscularly, may be retrograde transported to the spinal cord.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,545 discloses that a modified clostridial neurotoxin or fragment thereof, preferably a botulinum toxin, chemically conjugated or recombinantly fused to a particular targeting moiety can be used to treat pain by administration of the agent to the spinal cord.
Acetylcholine
Typically only a single type of small molecule neurotransmitter is released by each type of neuron in the mammalian nervous system. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine is secreted by neurons in many areas of the brain, but specifically by the large pyramidal cells of the motor cortex, by several different neurons in the basal ganglia, by the motor neurons that innervate the skeletal muscles, by the preganglionic neurons of the autonomic nervous system (both sympathetic and parasympathetic), by the postganglionic neurons of the parasympathetic nervous system, and by some of the postganglionic neurons of the sympathetic nervous system. Essentially, only the postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers to the sweat glands, the piloerector muscles and a few blood vessels are cholinergic as most of the postganglionic neurons of the sympathetic nervous system secret the neurotransmitter norepinephine. In most instances acetylcholine has an excitatory effect. However, acetylcholine is known to have inhibitory effects at some of the peripheral parasympathetic nerve endings, such as inhibition of heart rate by the vagal nerve.
The efferent signals of the autonomic nervous system are transmitted to the body through either the sympathetic nervous system or the parasympathetic nervous system. The preganglionic neurons of the sympathetic nervous system extend from preganglionic sympathetic neuron cell bodies located in the intermediolateral horn of the spinal cord. The preganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers, extending from the cell body, synapse with postganglionic neurons located in either a paravertebral sympathetic ganglion or in a prevertebral ganglion. Since, the preganglionic neurons of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system are cholinergic, application of acetylcholine to the ganglia will excite both sympathetic and parasympathetic postganglionic neurons.
Acetylcholine activates two types of receptors, muscarinic and nicotinic receptors. The muscarinic receptors are found in all effector cells stimulated by the postganglionic, neurons of the parasympathetic nervous system as well as in those stimulated by the postganglionic cholinergic neurons of the sympathetic nervous system. The nicotinic receptors are found in the adrenal medulla, as well as within the autonomic ganglia, that is on the cell surface of the postganglionic neuron at the synapse between the preganglionic and postganglionic neurons of both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. Nicotinic receptors are also found in many nonautonomic nerve endings, for example in the membranes of skeletal muscle fibers at the neuromuscular junction.
Acetylcholine is released from cholinergic neurons when small, clear, intracellular vesicles fuse with the presynaptic neuronal cell membrane. A wide variety of non-neuronal secretory cells, such as, adrenal medulla (as well as the PC12 cell line) and pancreatic islet cells release catecholamines and parathyroid hormone, respectively, from large dense-core vesicles. The PC12 cell line is a clone of rat pheochromocytoma cells extensively used as a tissue culture model for studies of sympathoadrenal development. Botulinum toxin inhibits the release of both types of compounds from both types of cells in vitro, permeabilized (as by electroporation) or by direct injection of the toxin into the denervated cell. Botulinum toxin is also known to block release of the neurotransmitter glutamate from cortical synaptosomes cell cultures.
A neuromuscular junction is formed in skeletal muscle by the proximity of axons to muscle cells. A signal transmitted through the nervous system results in an action potential at the terminal axon, with activation of ion channels and resulting release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from intraneuronal synaptic vesicles, for example at the motor endplate of the neuromuscular junction. The acetylcholine crosses the extracellular space to bind with acetylcholine receptor proteins on the surface of the muscle end plate. Once sufficient binding has occurred, an action potential of the muscle cell causes specific membrane ion channel changes, resulting in muscle cell contraction. The acetylcholine is then released from the muscle cells and metabolized by cholinesterases in the extracellular space. The metabolites are recycled back into the terminal axon for reprocessing into further acetylcholine.
What is needed therefore is a method for effectively treating a neuropsychiatric disorder by administration of a pharmaceutical which has the characteristics of long duration of activity, low rates of diffusion out of a chosen intracranial target tissue where administered, and nominal systemic effects at therapeutic dose levels.